Fan Jinghua: Invitation of the Predawn Moon

　　Invitation of the Predawn Moon

So it is still in the sky, only a little to the west. This is comforting,
Especially so, as last night I forgot its season was waxing.
Now, with a mug in hand, on the thirteenth floor,
I cannot dig a pool on the opposite balcony and invite it to there.
Clouds may bloom like rootless water lilies,
But this hand-mirror of milk under my nose is sluggishly opaque.
No matter how sternly I hold it up, I cannot tell
Who is within its ashes and filth.
Tonight, it will still shine, tomorrow night, still brighter,
If something is not to be brought back,
If common souls can take the mackerel sky with a grin
Or forget some days like this had been expected not to overcast or rain.
The moon can always be regarded as a high ideal, forever for the yet-to-come,
As one sits before a mirror, seeing eye to eye with the other
Until they both grow hoary and blind.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　September 23, 2007

Today (September 25) is Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon-Cake Festival) (The 15th of the eighth lunar month), which is considred a day of family reunion as the full autumn/harvest month symbolizes perfectness (roundness and fullness).

　　　　凌晨望月

它仍在空中，只是已经偏西。这令人感到安慰，
尤其因为我的昨夜忘记了这是它盈满的季节。
此刻，我手端瓷缸，站在十三楼，既不能
在月色侵阶处凿个池儿，也不能将月亮唤到对面的阳台。
云朵可以开放成无根的白莲，
而我鼻子下这面牛奶的镜子却浓稠得混浊。
无论我审察得多么苛严，仍难说出
其灰烬与污秽之下的是谁。
今夜，明夜，它仍会照耀，更加明洁，
只不过有些事不要被重新翻开，
常人们要能对着满天鱼鳞的瓷片露齿而笑，
忘记他们曾期盼这样的日子不会阴雨。
月亮总能被视为一个至高的理想，为了未来，
犹如一个人坐在镜前颔首，直到两个人全都白头且失明。
　　　　　　　　　　　2007年9月24日

The poem borrows some images from the following poems:
这首诗借用了以下三首诗词的一些意象：

辛弃疾《南歌子》
散发披襟处，浮瓜沈李杯。涓涓流水细侵阶。凿个池儿，唤个月儿来。
画栋频摇动，红蕖尽倒开。斗匀红粉照香腮。有个人人，把做镜儿猜。

王国维《虞美人》
碧苔深锁长门路，总为娥眉误。自来积毁骨能消，何况真红一点臂砂娇。
妾身但使分明在，肯把朱颜悔！从今不复梦承恩，且自簪花坐赏镜中人。

Walter Whitman: A Hand-Mirror
Hold it up sternly! See this it sends back! (Who is it? Is it you?)
Outside fair costume--within ashes and filth,
No more a flashing eye--no more a sonorous voice or springy step;
Now some slave's eye, voice, hands, step,
A drunkard's breath, unwholesome eater's face, venerealee's flesh,
Lungs rotting away piecemeal, stomach sour and cankerous,
Joints rheumatic, bowels clogged with abomination,
Blood circulating dark and poisonous streams,
Words babble, hearing and touch callous,
No brain, no heart left--no magnetism of sex;
Such, from one look in this looking-glass ere you go hence,
Such a result so soon--and from such a beginning!

My translation draft of 惠特曼《一把镜子》（大意）
紧紧地握着它！看它折射的是什么！（那是谁？是你？）
在华美的衣饰下——灰烬与污秽之中，
不再有闪亮的眼睛——不再有洪亮的声音或轻快的脚步；
此刻某个奴隶的眼睛、嗓音、双手、脚步，
一个酒鬼的呼气、滥食者的肥脸、花柳病的皮肤，
肺叶一片片烂掉、酸胀与溃疡的胃子，
风湿的关节、消化不良的肠堵塞，
毒素侵染循环不畅的污血，
毫无意义的咿呀、听觉与触觉的老茧，
没脑子、没心没肺——没有性的引力；
一切如此，在你进一步之前，哪怕看一眼这把镜子，
结果便已出现——从此一个新的开始！